My fellow authors: In West Warren, Massachusetts, there is a small-town library that needs your help.

When I was a young boy growing up in western Massachusetts, my hometown’s local public library was a big part of my life. Often on weekend afternoons, while my parents ran errands, they left me under the watchful eye of the librarians, and I whiled away my afternoons poring through all types of tomes: Peanuts cartoon collections, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries, assorted science-fiction paperbacks and hardcovers, and various encyclopedias. To me the library was a magical place, safe and quiet, full of knowledge and entertainment. I still carry with me the fond memories of what a library can mean to its community.

I recently received an e-mail appeal from Thomas Cummings at the West Warren Public Library, which is located not far from where I grew up, asking me for a simple gift: An inscribed and autographed copy of one of my books that they can raffle off at their December fund-raiser. His message read, in part:

The West Warren Public library holds a raffle every year as part of its annual fundraising. The drawing is held on the first Sunday in December at our town’s annual tree-lighting festival. The Board of Trustees is already planning this year’s raffle. The board has decided to give books signed by the authors as prizes.

Would you please donate any of your books to help our cause? If you donate a book could you please write the following: “Read, and you will always be a winner!” — and, of course, sign the book.

Remember that all books donated to us can be used for tax purposes as a donation to a non-profit organization.

I have donated an inscribed and autographed copy of the omnibus edition of my Star Trek Destiny trilogy to help the West Warren Public Library, and I hope that all of you, my fellow authors, will join me by taking the time to inscribe, sign, and donate one copy of any of your works to the library.

Donated works can be mailed to this address:

West Warren Public Library
2370 Main St., P.O. Box 369
West Warren, MA 01092-0369
Attn: Thomas Cummings

Also, please feel free to share this call for charitable book donations on your own blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds. Here’s hoping that together we can make this year a great one for the West Warren Public Library.

— David Mack